The UK issued about 1,956,526 visitor visas (short-term) last year. These granted visas are 40 percent higher than the previous year. Indian nationals were issued 26% and Chinese 21% of the total visitor visas granted.
The most recent year saw a surge due to Indian and Chinese nationals. Overall, 349,045 visitor visas were granted to Chinese nationals. These numbers are over six times higher than that of 2022. On the other hand, the number of visitor visas issued to Indian nationals rose by 22% in the last year. *The citizens of Türkiye were issued 7%, Nigerian 5%, and South African and Pakistani both 4% visitor visas.
UK granted a record 202,041 people British Citizenship last year
The nationals of certain countries need a visa to visit the UK. This is granted for 6 months with multiple entries. On the other hand, citizens of other countries do not need a visa to enter the UK. They only have to confirm the electronic travel authorization (ETA) such as the US citizens. The ETA can also be granted at the UK borders.
Number of ETAs issued
The ETA scheme started for Qatari nationals on October 15, 2023. In the last three months of 2023, there were 12,190 applications and 12,076 approvals, all from Qatar. From February 1, 2024, the scheme is also open to nationals from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.
For the year ending in March 2024, the ETAs issued for Gulf countries are as follows:
| Nationality | Applications | Issued |
| Jordan | 112,198 | 110,186 |
| Saudi Arabia | 25,812 | 25,436 |
| Kuwait | 14,600 | 14,322 |
| United Arab Emirates | 7,684 | 7,417 |
| Qatar | 19,434 | 19,296 |
| Bahrain | 2,305 | 2,267 |
| Oman | 1,605 | 1,593 |
| Other and unknown | 4 | 1 |
| Total | 183,642 | 180,518 |
Which nationalities visited the UK the most?
In 2023, out of the ten countries whose residents visited the UK most frequently, seven were EU nations. The non-EU countries on this list were the United States, Australia, and Canada.
Same as in 2022, the United States continued to lead as the most frequent visitor in 2023, accounting for 5.1 million visits. Citizens of France were the second most frequent visitors, with about 3.2 million visits to the UK. On the other hand, Australia re-entered the top 10 with a significant 62% increase in visits compared to 2022, marking its first appearance in the top 10 since 2019.
The UK Leisure and Tourism released the statistics according to which overseas residents made 38 million visits to the UK in 2023 and overall spent £31.1 billion on all pleasure activities. Almost 53 percent of these visits were made due to holidays followed by 26 percent of friends and family meetups.
Files from visa-guru.com, UK Leisure and Tourism, Umer Rasib, and UKVI.
*The statistics might have differences due to the year ending in December 2023 (statistics year January 2023 to December 2023) or the year ending in March 2024 (statistics year March 2023 to March 2024).